City Research Online City, University of London Institutional Repository Citation: Parsonage, Catherine Jane (2002). The evolution of jazz in Britain c. 1880- 1927: antecedents, processes and developments. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City University London) This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/14853/ Link to published version: Copyright: City Research Online aims to make research outputs of City, University of London available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the author(s) and/or copyright holders. URLs from City Research Online may be freely distributed and linked to. Reuse: Copies of full items can be used for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge. 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City Research Online: http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/ [email protected] The Evolution of Jazz in Britain c. 1880-1927: Antecedents, Processes and Developments Catherine Jane Parsonage Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy City University Department of Music July 2002 IMAGING SERVICES NORTH Boston Spa, Wetherby West Yorkshire, lS23 7BQ www.bl.uk THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN REDACTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE UNIVERSITY: Figure 1 (after page 36) Figures 2 & 3 (after page 132) Figures 4 & 5 (after page 162) Figure 9 (after page 209) Contents List of illustrations ............................................................................................................3 List of abbreviations ........................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................4 Declaration ......................................................................................................................5 Abstract ...........................................................................................................................6 Introduction ......................................................................................................................7 Part One: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives Chapter 1 The cultural and musical antecedents of jazz in Britain ......................... 12 Chapter 2 The evolving image of jazz in Britain in sheet music ............................. 24 Chapter 3 The 'jazz age', modernism and the 'culture industry' ............................ .48 Part Two: The Evolving Presence of Jazz in Britain Chapter 4 Case study: In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy in London, 1903 ...................... 79 Chapter 5 Case study: The banjo in the musical and symbolic evolution of black American music in Britain ..................................................................................... 107 Chapter 6 Case study: The Original Dixieland Jazz Band and the Southern Syncopated Orchestra in London, 1919-1922 ......................................................... 126 Chapter 7 Case study: Jazz in Britain in the 1920s - dance music on the BBC, the 'plantation revues' and the underworld of London ................................................. 172 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................211 Appendix 1 Songs consulted for Chapter 2 ............................................................ 214 Appendix 2 Synopsis of In Dahomey ...................................................................... 217 Appendix 3 Songs consulted for Chapter 5 ............................................................ 218 References and Bibliography ......................................................................................219 Discography ................................................................................................................260 2 List of illustrations Figure 1 Cover illustration for the sheet music of Johnson's Jazz-time Band Figure 2 The Original Dixieland Jazz Band at the Hammersmith Palais, 1919 (Max Jones Archive) Figure 3 The Original Dixieland Jazz Band c. 1919 (Max Jones Archive) Figure 4 The Southern Syncopated Orchestra (Sound Wave, October 1920:698) Figure 5 The Jazz Kings at the Embassy Club, 1920 (Max Jones Archive) Figure 6 Buddie Gilmore advertisement (The Performer, 12/8/1920:27) Figure 7 The Savoy Orpheans (Radio Times, 18/1/1924:141) Figure 8 Western Loudspeakers Advertisement (Radio Times, 14/12/1923:424) Figure 9 J.B. Souter: The Breakdown (Royal Academy of Arts Archive) List of abbreviations BBCWAC BBC Written Archives Centre, Caversham Park, Reading HJA William Ransom Hogan Archive of New Orleans Jazz, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana IJS Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey NJFA National Jazz Foundation Archive, Loughton Public Library, Loughton, Essex ODJB Original Dixieland Jazz Band SSO Southern Syncopated Orchestra 3 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Board for a postgraduate award supporting the last two years of my doctoral research and for a contribution towards my study visit to the USA in 2001. My supervisor at City University, Dr. Gerry Farrell deserves particular thanks for all his help and guidance. During the course of my research I have made use of many archives, libraries and museums. I would like to thank the staff at the Barbican Library, British Film Institute, British Library (especially Rare Books and Music and Humanities 2 Reading Rooms), City University Library, Newspaper Library at Colindale, Public Records Office at Kew and Westminster Music Library. I would particularly like to thank the following for taking the time to assist me with specific enquiries: Jeff Walden at the BBC Written Archive, John McCusker, leader of the 'Cradle of Jazz Tour' in New Orleans, Nick Jones at the Max Jones Archive, David Nathan at the National Jazz Foundation Archive, Andrew Simons at the National Sound Archive, Alice Blackford at the Oxford University Archives, Pamela Clark at the Royal Archives, Windsor, Mark Pomeroy and Laura Valentine at the Royal Academy of Arts Archive, Susan Scott at the Savoy Group Archive and Dr. Robin Oarwall-Smith at University College, Oxford Archive. During my visit to America, I was privileged to access a wealth of archival information with the guidance of Vincent Pelote and Dan Morgenstern at the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, Charles Chamberlain and Bruce Boyd Raeburn at the William Ransom Hogan Archive of New Orleans Jazz, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana and Deborah Gillaspie at the Chicago Jazz Archive. I thank them for their hospitality and willingness to answer my questions. Exhibitions in the following museums were of great help and interest: the Calbido (Louisiana State Museum), New Orleans, Tate Britain, Theatre Museum, Museum of London, New Orleans Jazz Museum in the Old Mint, New Orleans and the Victoria and Albert Museum. On a personal note I would like to thank Will Michael, a truly inspirational educator who first introduced me to the fascinating world of jazz, my travelling companions, Alison and Heather, and my housemate and drinking partner Lippy. I would like to dedicate this thesis to Oan and thank him for all his love and support and as well as his ability to fix computer problems over the 'phone. 4 Declaration I grant powers of discretion to the University Librarian to allow this thesis to be copied in whole or in part without further reference to me. This permission covers only single copies made for study purposes, subject to normal conditions of acknowledgement. 5 Abstract This thesis examines the way in which jazz evolved in Britain beginning with an examination of the cultural and musical antecedents of the genre, including minstrel shows and black musical theatre, within the context of musical life in Britain in the late nineteenth-early twentieth centuries. The processes through which this evolution took place are considered with reference to the ways in which jazz was introduced to Britain through imported revue shows and sheet music, as well as by the visits of American musicians. Finally, the subsequent development of jazz in Britain in the 1920s is analysed with particular consideration of the 'jazz age', modernism and the 'culture industry' as theoretical constructs and detailed study of dance music on the BBC and jazz in the underworld of London. The thesis falls into two parts, the first provides historical and theoretical perspectives on the topic, and the second presents various case studies that examine particular manifestations of the evolving presence of jazz in Britain. The research makes use of a wide variety of primary source material; in addition to recordings (where available), sheet music, and concert programmes, which offer direct information about the music performed; biographies, film, photographs, government, police and court records, newspapers and periodicals provide the necessary context. This thesis presents a new version of the history of jazz in Britain, not only through the factual findings resulting from the consideration of how jazz evolved in Britain, but also through the methodological approach used. The research establishes